Novak Djokovic vs Stanislas Wawrinka: The Rivalry

Share This

Tags

A 17-3 head to head doesn’t quite justify the intriguing rivalry that has grown between Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic. It wasn’t much of a rivalry prior to the Australian Open 2013 as Stan had never beaten the Serb for nearly 8 years. But the quater finals played by the duo in Australia helped Stan shed his tag as “the other Swiss”. Although Wawrinka lost 12-10 in the fifth set, he came out of the shadows of his much illustrious compatriot Roger Federer. “Stanimal” had his revenge against the ” Serbinator” next year as he edged him out 9-7 in the fifth again in the quater final stage. He later went on to capture his maiden Grand Slam trophy by defeating Rafael Nadal in the finals. In fact all the 4 Djokovic-Wawrinka encounter at the Grand Slam level have gone the full distance.

Form Factor

Stan Wawrinka

Coming in to the French Open Stan had had an inconsistent clay swing where he beat King of Clay in Rome after 3rd round exists in Rome and Monte Carlo. The French Open too didn’t begin too well for the Swiss who was miffed with the organizers for divulging his private life on the tournament’s official website. But he didn’t let that effect his on court performances as he overpowered and out muscled his opponents to reach his maiden French Open finals where he had won as a junior.

Novak Djokovic

Such has been the dominance shown by the World number 1 that one has to really scratch their heads when trying to recollect when did Novak end up on the losing side in the past one year. Nole has compiled a 41-2 record this season and has won every big trophy since last year’s . He has been the World’s best player for a total of 149 weeks now and is looking to complete his career Grand Slam resume by lifting the Musketeers trophy in Paris.

The Verdict

Nole had to beat King of Clay Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray (who was unbeaten on clay this year until the semifinals) en route to another French Open final. Wawrinka on the other hand has been the tournaments dark horse dismantling opposition with his powerful serves and scintillating ground strokes. A win over Novak Djokovic will silence his critiques who have labelled him a one slam wonder while a win for Novak will help in further cementing his legacy. The mach promises to be an exciting contest with arguably the games best backhands colliding on the opposite sides of the net.